Caged
by Hilarious-Mayhem
Summary: Add a child born of madness, a nurse on her very first job, and the insanity of Silent Hill. Stir well. SH4
1. First Jobs

**Category: Silent Hill**

**Events taken place in: SH4 + Before**

**Main Characters: OC, Henry, Eileen, Walter, Rachel, ect.**

**Type: Drama, Supernatural, Romance, slight Angst.**

**Summary: ****Add a child born into madness, and a nurse on her first job. Bring it all to a boil and add a pinch of the insanity of Silent Hill, stir well. SH4 **

**Disclaimer:**** I own absolutely nothing of the video game or movie Silent Hill (scout's honor); obviously, besides the characters I create for my own amusement (so much of this story is based on my rampant imagination). Going on with that statement, please do not use anything that I created in this story without my permission…and I may grant access of some things if nicely asked, also, if you see any posting of that sort that have done it without my expressed consent, please privately message me on my homepage or place a review to that effect. **

**Author's Note:**** some facts that are in this story could possibly be changed or potentially screwed up from the original Silent Hill, as I am not good at retaining details, nor am I that successful at research. So I suppose this is a little bit AU…hum…anyway, if you would like to give any **_**constructive **_**comments on missing details or messed up ones, or would simply like to assist me in this particular area (that I have some trouble in), it would be much appreciated. Also, the nurse Rachel in this story is a real character of Silent Hill (although I made up her last name and some of her history), mentioned in SH2 as Laura and Mary's nurse at St. Jerome, before Mary was transferred to Brookhaven, as well as being a tenant of South Ashfield Heights apartment number 106, where James Sunderland's father, Frank Sunderland was the superintendent. I only mention this because some people might have forgotten . **

**Also…the events of the first of this story take place before the first Silent Hill, which was around the 1980's.**

**Thank you and I hope that you at least get some amusement from reading the first chapter of this story; I know I did have a fun time while writing it. XD**

**Sincerely,**

_**Hilarious-Mayhem**_**, who is of the many SH lovers of the world, and who loves all reviews of every shape and size, now…ON TO THE STORY~~~!**

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_Chapter One: First Jobs and Purification_

There was absolutely no peace and quiet available at Brookhaven; instead, the impenetrable darkness in the long hospital corridors seemed to almost be alive with the echoing screams and constant moans of tormented souls hidden away beneath its large and foreboding walls.

One of the youngest nurses that resided at this particular place, a twenty-two year old woman named Rachel Harding, fresh from school and working on her very first job in the medical field, had precariously enough slowly become inured to the howls of anguish that echoed through these halls even into the wee hours of the pitch black night.

It was a wonder how someone could possibly become accustomed to these abominable sounds, but…if someone is exposed to horrible things for a long amount of time the abnormality of it just becomes a fissure of normality…at least that was what she supposed. She didn't even have to assist with the individuals making those dreadful sounds, anyway.

At one time, though, Brookhaven had been a very different place than what it was at the moment, though with its current condition now it was a bit hard to believe.

At one time, an amount of time that was noticeably longer than Rachel had been alive at least, the now formally called "Brookhaven Mental Hospital" had only been reserved for general patients (of the first floor).

Brookhaven, in its entirety, had first been built as a response to a great plague that had followed a wave of immigration to the area of Silent Hill, something that many people in the town now overlooked since Alchemilla had come into existence, even though the hospital in question had a moderately large wing for disturbed patients of its own, it seemed that people were much more weary of Brookhaven.

But off of that rather historical note, as said previously, Rachel didn't really have to deal with the worst of the patients, because of her current position. She was a beginning RN, Registered Nurse, fresh out of school, and was bared from patients of high precaution. Of course these "high caution" ones would be the patients who exhibited violent tendencies towards others.

Though she had majored in Psychology, at her four years studying in the medical field, along with all of the other general courses that RN's were prescribed to take if they were to enter in facilities that contained their own mental wings, but even then she hadn't had much hand-on-hand experience. That being excluded from the occasional periods that her classes had been taken into the mental wing of the hospital nearby her college.

Though these sessions mostly involved the instructor explaining things to the various students, not much individual assessments of the patients occurred.

So, most of the assignments she was given were individuals with severe depression-most of whom at one point in time- sometimes several times- made an attempt, which could every once in a while be successful, at suicide.

It was far-in-between times that these episodes happened though, so it was relatively similar to being a live-in maid, cleaning up after the patients and attending to all their potential needs. Not exactly what she had expected her first job in the medical field to be, but she supposed that beggars could not exactly be choosers, as the saying goes.

These cases that she was assigned were on the lowest of severity on the hierarchy of Brookhaven cases though, most of the severe cases were restrained to their own individually assigned rooms; padded white cells, meant to procure that they would do no harm to themselves, cells that resided in the bowels of the hospital, unobserved by the outside world beyond the hospital. They were rooms that were meant to but didn't contain the sounds of anguish that came from the disturbed ones that resided there.

And those sounds…in the late of the night managed to resound so thoroughly throughout the hospital halls. Horrible soul-wrenching screams that made the blood of even the strongest of stomachs run cold.

But, we progress now from the rather morbid facts of the facility.

Brookhaven was a very large hospital, and along with Alchemilla, it acted as a sort of "big brother" type of place to the other towns in the general area, smaller towns sending their ill to these two hospitals…so the populations of Brookhaven was at outrageous numbers at the moment.

It seemed, to Rachel, that people were losing their minds at a more rapid rate nowadays…which in turn caused Rachel to work almost constantly during the day.

There really weren't very many nurses attending on the staff, due to Silent Hill being such a small, backwards town.

She had been extremely nervous (initially) of taking on her first job in the medical field, especially with it being a mental hospital with up to more than three floor included.

The first couple of nights she had worked in Brookhaven had been the worst. For the first couple of months, she had lived in a bit of terror, afraid to encounter those "problem patients" that the head doctors so thoroughly stressed caution upon.

She was only planning to stay at Brookhaven for a short amount of time though…then she was going to move on to a general hospital, since she found that this certain type of hospital was not to her predilection, but for now she was staying in Silent Hill, living temporarily with her mother at the Wood Side Apartments and looking after her aforementioned mother, who wasn't in the best condition at the moment.

Annette…her mother…had been sick for quite a long time.

The doctors had just clarified her condition only last year; cancer, after a scan had showed that her mother contained a mass within her body, hidden away in deep corners.

A malignant tumor that was spreading through her body, it had not so long ago spread to her brain, forcing the doctors to give her various medications and begin radiation sessions, and also causing her mother to have frequent blinding headaches. The doctors had said this was because it had somehow messed with her core nervous system, sending fake shock signals of pain directly to her brain.

Rachel often found herself crying along with her mother when those "headaches" came along, making her mother take loads of sedative medications…and the many sessions of radiation, which the family doctor claimed was slowly becoming ineffective. Though the sessions managed to slow down the multiplication of the cancerous cells, it wouldn't stave off the growth completely.

And in the back of her mind, Rachel, for some unearthly reason, found putting blame on herself for her mother's current condition was a very easy thing to accomplish. Maybe she was simply one of those people who shouldered all the blame to cope…maybe she just felt guilty…but whatever it was, she put a certain amount of blame in the back of her mind, a little voice that constantly hissed "it's you at fault…you're to blame." Maybe she had something in common with the patients she tended to…

In her mother's cul-de-sac, just on the northeastern side of Silent hill, whispered stories of terrible things that happened in the Brookhaven asylum were told as if they were some sort of ghost stories, and she herself, as a child, had spent a few nights cowering under her covers at rumors that one of the supposed "lunatics" had somehow escaped from confinement. The hospital was so close to were she lived, after all. The proximity had actually been one of reasons for putting in an application to Brookhaven.

Of course, now that she worked in the establishment she saw how untrue those rumors were. It was very rare that a patient would get out of their rooms (if they were one of the "bad ones") much less escape from the Brookhaven medical establishment.

Occasionally, if she were attending to her patients, Rachel had some time to spare and she would while her free time away by playing endless games of solitaire, or thumb through the pages of some cheesy romance novel the at she had brought along for the day.

Lighting up a cigarette was a no-go, no matter how much stress she was under, due to the several treatments that some patients had to undergo, and due to the fact that most of her time at the job was spent indoors…although it was possible to take a quick sneak p to the roof of the building, overlooking the gray sky that always seemed to be spouting some variation of bad weather…

It rained and rained some more…seeming to be never endingly at Brookhaven…

All of these complications actually assisted her in the attempt she made to kick the habit of nicotine consumption, along with the help of variety of tasteless gums and nicotine patches that she never really seemed to run out of.

So perhaps Brookhaven had a positive effect as well as a bad, changing her a bit for the better?

She didn't quite believe that the good and bad of the establishment balanced itself out.

During her second month at Brookhaven, though, she stopped smoking completely. Although she missed that addiction of hers- because it numbed the pain of loneliness and hopeless desperation that she felt on occasion- she felt as if she had made an accomplishment in her life.

Maybe it was not something to be eternally proud of, but an accomplishment nonetheless.

As the days turned into weeks, those dragging weeks into months, she began slowly- tentatively to make some friends around the establishment, some of them being her fellow nurses such as Louise, a beautiful blonde woman who worked on the same floor as she regularly did and Jean, an average looking woman who she often saw hanging around the lounge. Jean was mostly a nondescript nurse though, who Rachel barely saw unless she had free time.

But, she also had some conversations, though not quite friendly, with some of her current patients. She had spoken to occasionally, while passing him his pills, with a man named Jacob.

He was a…minimally pleasant man, although she sometimes felt very uncomfortable around him, due to his constant obsession with Louise. It was very unnerving to listen to him speak of her. Just hearing his soft words proclaiming his ever-lasting love of the beautiful woman made Rachel feel perturbed.

At one point in time, she even tried to befriend one of her other patients, a pale, cornflower blue eyed slightly plump woman who always sat perfectly still in a rocking chair in the dayroom, looking wistfully out the window, as if she longed to jump out of it. And she probably did think thoughts along that line; she was in the suicide-watch ward, after all. On the occasion that Rachel attempted to speak with her, the woman's dusty blue continuously darting eyes locked onto her with a trace of anger…and fear.

To say the least the woman never spoke to her. Despite all of her various attempts at making a friendship.

Ironically, the woman's name was April…April Summers. A pretty and delicate name for a woman that was very unlike those sentiments, and who wheedled her hours away in front of that lone window…almost as if she were waiting for something.

Waiting for what exactly, though?

On a day not too long from when she first met the skittish woman, the woman, April, simply vanished, and though there were rumors that she had been taken away, Rachel didn't quite believe the talk; she had only heard these rumors from the various gossiping nurses and conversations she picked up from the more lucid patients.

There would always be talking around Brookhaven, anyway, it just seemed to be one of those places that attracted talk.

Besides that, she had heard from one of the head doctors that the woman in question, who happened to reside on her floor, had been "put into solitary confinement" as quoted. It was understandable that she wouldn't see the woman, since she was bared from that branch of the hospital.

So the months passed…

And now, at her sixth month of attending at Brookhaven, she was completely desensitized to the happenings. August twenty-first would commemorate her seventh month at the hospital…and she felt as if time had flown by over those last few months, as if she were in a trace of some sort.

That very day on a cold August night, Rachel was attending to the patients of the 2nd floor, suicide ward. Her tasks for the night included bringing in their assigned medication and making sure that they were comfortable before turning in for bed.

There weren't any other nurses other than her tending at the moment in the halls…except Jean, who was tending to the third floor patients while she herself was on the 2nd floor.

Almost all of the doctors had already headed home, and only the night-nurses and Dr. Midkiff and occasionally Dr. Crosby would stick around for a couple more hours before finally checking out. Dr. Midkiff was always there for emergencies, though, so the hospital was most usually always attended to.

She had known Dr. Midkiff ever since she had applied for a job at Brookhaven; he had actually been her interviewer throughout the whole process. So…she was fairly certain that if an emergency arose, he could certainly handle himself without any assistance.

All day she had felt something quite strange…like something was off at the moment, like something was about to happen. She couldn't quite put her finger on the feeling…the abnormality, but she knew something was wrong.

She had always trusted her gut feelings, because they were most usually (in her various experiences) correct, but usually she at least had a vague idea what she was feeling uneasy about. This was just completely…foreign.

Slightly disturbed at the strange feeling she had, Rachel continued on with her normal duties, pasting an utterly fake smile on her pale lips as she checked on each of her assigned wards, giving each their prescribed medication, along with the usual 200 mg of Amobarbital to act as a sedative, to calm them down for the night and have them sleep soundly.

This form of medication was the most effective for those patients who suffered from bouts of insomnia, and were unable to sleep without the assistance of medication. This was…similar to the medication her mother took regularly before bedtime.

Wheeling out the cart that she used to dole out the various types of medications that her patients were forced to take, Rachel sighed wearily and headed for the supply closet at the end of the long, dark and somewhat chilly hallway, tucking the now-empty pushcart into the small, enclosed, and unusually dark space with a the same feeling of apprehension that she had felt all day long.

Going into the elevator, Rachel pushed the button for the first floor, hearing the whir as the elevator came to live and began making its decent to the bottom level. Going on this particular elevator, at one time, was something she had been extremely leery about doing. She had questioned its stability for an escapable amount of time, choosing the stairs over the elevators. But the stairs had their draws also; being one of the scariest places in Brookhaven…so she had eventually begun tentatively taking this elevator on her many trips up and down the floors of Brookhaven.

At a large creak that signaled that she had arrived at her determined destination, Rachel stepped out of the elevator in a way that could only be described at lazily, making her way towards the first floor doctor's lounge to grab her apartment key.

Usually she kept most of her personal belongings (such as the apartment key) in the doctor's lounge to prevent thievery. Her patients could sometimes have "sticky fingers" when it came down to it, so this safety precaution was only in her best interests, although she had to make a trip to the lounge each day…

Opening the door to this particular room, she saw that no one was occupying the lounge, which wasn't uncommon during this time of the night. Most of the night-nurses were already patrolling around their assigned blocks, making sure that nothing fishy was going on or that any patients were wandering out in the corridors after hours.

Rachel walked over to the desk on the far side of the room, ignoring the various memos that doctors had posted along the wooden surface, most of them pertaining to patient records and some of which had sloppily written codes on them, probably pertaining to the various key-locks that needed to be punched in on the patient wing doors, something that stood as a reminder if someone did not have the best of memories.

Grabbing her keys from this stack of papers, she turned on her heel, grabbing her brown coat as she went out of the room and pulled her hair out of the rigid confinement of the bun it had been situated in for a good part of the day.

Sighing in relief, she almost skipped to the front exit door, before…

That…strange…feeling came again.

Grabbing onto the knob that would give her an exit to the hospital, she paused as something reverberate through the first floor corridor, coming back to her faintly.

What was…that noise…?

Listening for a moment, Rachel came to the realization that the noise was a voice, and not the usual barrage of blaringly high-pitched screams, this seemed to be…melodic?

A woman's voice floated through the corridor, the sound being that of singing, though the mood of the singing was neither joyful nor pleasant. Almost again her will, Rachel stepped towards the front entrance at the sound of this singing, before she suddenly realized that no patients should be out at this hour.

And that voice…resounded through the halls, echoing that same lullaby that she had heard many times as a child, lulled to sleep by the melody by her mother. It was a song she remembered even in her younger years, the dreamy melody drifting through the air faintly.

A song that wasn't really as sweet and carefree as it seemed, but instead was a death-threat coated in the sweet sugariness of a children's nursery rhyme.

"_Rock-a- bye baby on the treetop_

_When the wind blows the cradle will rock,_

_When the bough breaks the cradle will fall_

_And down will come baby, cradle and all."_

A minute or so after the sound of this sorrowful music hit her sensitive ears on her way out the door; Rachel furrowed her dark brows, slowly beginning her walk down the dark hallway, following the sound unwillingly down the dark encrusted corridor, slipping her house key into her pocket so she wouldn't lose it.

Through the halls, the same melody began to resound, and Rachel followed it down the darkened hall, coming in front of a room where the sound's origin appeared to be.

Rachel arrived at the door that this singing was occurring, pressing her ear to the cold door, listening to it; worry fretting over her features, along with a bit of fear. This room was a bathroom, with a full bathtub and shower, if she were correct.

It was one of the only ones within the institution, usually it was locked though, due to the threat of the patients attempting to drown themselves.

With a frown, Rachel put her hands on the door handle, taking a moment to look down the darkened hallways before she turned the knob.

It was raining tonight, something that Rachel was eternally grateful for. The sound of the rushing water blotted out the less than savory sounds that the hospital usually exhibited, replacing it with only the sound of pounding water on the hospital ceiling. But…since this occurrence had come about…it wasn't so good.

What if she were to need help? She certainly had to get whoever was in this bathroom back to their assigned room…she just hoped that it wasn't one of the bad patients…she didn't think she'd be able to handle something or someone like that.

Taking a restrained gulp and bracing herself for whatever could possibly be on the other side of the white door, Rachel slowly turned the locker, stepping into the room cautiously.

What she saw surprised her…


	2. Purification

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Silent Hill…but I don't…so…I'm just going to go cry in a corner now. **

**Author's Note: Here's where some of the craziness begins…I actually feel like I'm going too quick on this, but this story ISN'T Rachel's at all. So I'm just going to get her part done quickly so I can get to what I actually want to write. She just begins the story for **_**my **_**character, who actually makes their first appearance in this chapter, although they won't be stressed upon until they are a bit older…lol…**

**Also, Dr. Midkiff in this chapter is a real person in SH, mentioned in SH3 in a memo at Brookhaven Hospital. April…however…is completely made up. Also…this chapter has a slight reference to the drug dealings of White Claudia throughout Alchemilla.**

**Please enjoy…hopefully I got all my facts right…. O.O**

**________________________________**

With their back to her, a woman with scraggily strawberry blonde hair stood in the bathroom, standing up and seeming to be rocking something in her arms. She wore one of the standard gowns of the patients, a white cotton dress that hung loosely on her somewhat skinny frame. However there was an addition to her gown. The area near her legs were completely covered in a red substance, bright red, which was slowly dripping to the floor, coating the once white tiles to a morbid color of bright garnish red, mixing with water.

Wait…water…?

On the right side of the room was the aforementioned bathtub, which Rachel turned to look at. It was overflowing, water pooling uselessly on the floor. The sink, along with the bathtub was also in this condition, water dripping steadily from the porcelain features to the tiled floor.

This certainly didn't look to be good at all.

"Miss? Are you hurt…? You're bleeding Miss, please let me tend to your wounds and we'll get you right back to your room." Rachel said easily, moving slightly towards the woman before the woman turned at her voice, filling Rachel with a new sense of terror.

In her arms, the woman held something.

Something in that woman's arms that, at this moment, chose at this moment to begin crying.

In her arms, that woman held a baby, blood covering the child, who looked as if she had been freshly borne. Its umbilical cord looked as if it had been cut off and then messily tied by the woman who held the child now, shushing at the baby with affection only a mother could exhibit.

And Rachel…recognized the woman.

There, with the child cradled in her arms, was April Summers.

The once _plump _and suicidal woman who she attempted to make friends with all those months before stood before her, blood covering her and the child.

The air in the room, for Rachel, became full of tension, her muscles becoming rigid and stiff, her face taking on a look of horror that not ever she could control.

And then April began to speak, igniting the tensed atmosphere ever further with the words that came pouring forth from her cracked and dried lips.

"As she watches the infant and rocks the cradle she is filled with an overwhelming need for her own peace. She longs for it with the same fervor that a starving man yearns for food. But the child won't cooperate and despite her attempts to comfort, the child will not stop crying…" The woman said reverently, and then stopped a moment, a crazed smile flittering on her lips as she crushed the naked and bloodied newborn babe to her white clothed, equally red stained bosom, a small humorless laugh arising from her chapped lips as she stared at the child within her arms, continuing on with the disturbing train of speech.

"…and having smothered the child, she drops to the floor and laughing with joy at the thought that she can sleep finally…she can have peace. In a moment she sleeps as soundly as the dead child." The woman breathed out the rest of the story, a tale that Rachel, strangely enough recognized, beginning to squeeze the bloodied child in her arms tighter, enticing the child to begin emanating horrible squalling noises.

This caused the crazed woman to scrunch her nose up in distaste as she stared at the child that was of her own blood; the child who, at this very moment was still yet covered in her own blood.

Obviously April was very much adverse to the noise the child was making…that certainly wasn't a good thing…

Rachel watched on, horrified at the words that had spouted out of the woman's mouth, feeling the need to rush over and snatch the crying infant from this delusional woman's arms. And at the same time, feeling the need to run from the room, scream for a doctor. But she knew she couldn't do that…what if it upset the woman enough to hurt the child? She certainly couldn't run off and leave her alone with the new-born either.

"April?" She squeaked out, causing the oily haired woman to turn her attention away the babe in her arms and back to the nurse who stood with her arms spread in a non-threatening gesture. "Miss Summers?"

"It's you again…" The woman drawled out slowly, her cornflower blue eyes flicking to the worried nurse in an almost languid way. "…what do you want with my child? Do you want to take her away…from me?"

"No…!" Rachel shouted, noticing the woman flinch before tightening her bruising grip on the child. Rachel tried to calm herself, forcing her trembling lips to give out a smaller noise, as not to startle the woman.

"…I won't let you have my baby…she's mine…you can't have her…go away…go away…go away…" The woman chanted from the corner of the room, her back pressed against the cold walls as she rocked back and forth, the child clutched securely to her breasts, a protective gesture it seemed, and then the woman raised her head, looking Rachel dead in the eyes.

"Go away. Leave us alone…my little girl needs to be purified…you're dirty…nasty…filthy…disgusting. Go away…" April said in a deadly voice, her gaunt and pale face covered in a scowl.

"Miss Summers…please let me help you…please just give me the baby…" Rachel begged, feeling her eyes beginning to water up in fear for the small child in April's arms. What did the woman mean that the child needed to be "purified"?

She had a vague idea…and it wasn't good…

"She wants to stay with me…she'll stay with me forever…forever…and she'll never leave me…because she loves her momma…doesn't she?" The woman cooed this last part to her child, slowly running her lengthened fingernails over the soft and delicate skin of the baby girl's smooth cheeks.

This, strangely enough, seemed to quiet the child down, the warmth radiating from the perturbed woman's body into the child's own giving the sleepy babe a false sense of safety, the soft breaths coming from the baby's mouth were the only indicators that the child was truly still alive.

Slowly, Rachel slipped off her standard white nurses' shoes, feeling the wetness of the water that was leaking from the overflowed bathtub running into the rough material of her pantyhose.

She walked towards the woman in the same unthreatening position as before, her arms spread, showing she had nothing that could potentially harm the woman.

She stopped at only a couple of feet away from April, who had lowered to her knees in front of the water-filled tub, rocking the baby in an almost affectionate gesture.

"April…?" She whispered hoarsely as the woman made this movement towards the tub. "What are you going to do…?"

"My…baby…needs to be purified. Momma can't let the evil touch it. It's precious. The darkness will stain it. My baby has no darkness! It can't touch…it." The woman whispered nonsensically, moving the baby to a more accessible position in her arms, staring at the sleeping face that the child held.

"April…Miss Summers…please give me the child." Rachel said, cautiously coming towards the woman, reaching hesitantly towards her. April shied away, glaring at the nurse at this gesture, upsetting the momentum of the baby in her arms and causing it to begin crying yet again.

"My beautiful Jennifer, my beautiful baby, don't cry…momma doesn't like it when you cry…" April whined with a frown, rocking the baby once again before turning her head towards Rachel in a barely perceptible glance of acknowledgement.

"You need to leave, this must be done…it has to be done quickly…please…go away." April said towards the woman, her chapped lips still frowning.

Rachel was speechless for a moment, simply standing with her mouth gaping open, staring fearfully at the delusional woman, before she snapped it closed, looking steadily at the woman before her.

"I can't do that April." She said steadily, looking the woman in her cornflower blue eyes. At these series of words, April sighed before turning her eyes towards the ceiling, as if she were exasperated.

"I…suppose it can't be helped." April said with sorrow in her voice, her eyes closing before she straightened out her arms, leaving the baby suspended in air, only supported by those arms, and sending Rachel into a whirlwind of anxiousness.

With those words, she dropped the child into the full tub of water, a cry coming from the babe before the wet slosh signaled it had gone under. April began laughing, backing into the corner of the room in hysteria, pulling out strands of her hair with scrawny and emaciated fingers.

At the moment that this happened, Rachel let out a cry, running towards the bathtub and reaching her hands inside the elbow-deep water, grabbing the infant submerged underneath the sloshing liquid. When she first grabbed the child, she thought it to be dead, because it was unmoving.

Raising the child up to her shoulder, uncaring of the water, and patting its back she heard a small cough from the child, before it began wailing in panic.

Laughing weakly in a bit of slightly hysterical relief, Rachel made her way hastily towards the front door to the room, her first priority in mind at the moment being to secure the safety of the child within her arms. To find a doctor or another nurse…to find some help.

Before she could get fully out of the door, she felt a hand grab her upper arm.

Apparently April had recovered from her hysterics, because the woman was clutching onto her arm desperately, a torn expression on her face. Tugging her arm from the woman's grip, she watched as the woman fell like a marionette that had her strings cut completely off, falling to the cold tile ground, tears pooling around the woman's face at the same time she began that god-awful laughing once again.

"Please…please…my baby Jennifer needs to be purified…please…don't take her away from me…please…don't let the evil touch her…" She said through the tears and laughter, laying her face in the water that was pooling underneath her, still mixing with the bright red blood, her dress being stained with the garnish color.

"I'll take care of her." Rachel said, the water dripping steadily from the sleeves of her uniform. She said in this in an attempt to placate the woman, although she sincerely meant it. This seemed to do the trip though, because the woman's face relaxed and she closed her eyes, seeming to almost be sleeping as she lay on her back in the slightly warm water that ran on the tiled floor.

Slipping out the doorway, she lost sight of that woman.

Rachel, not wasting any more time, rushed out into the darkened hallway, running hurriedly towards the first floor reception area, hopefully where she could find a doctor who or one of the night-time nurses.

"Hey!" She yelped as someone came into view, a woman with a white cap, who looked towards her and the child in surprise as this escaped her mouth. The woman appeared to be a night-nurse by the looks of it, one that she didn't recognize.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked sweetly, her smile firmly pasted onto a pair of rosy lips, her brown eyes dull.

"Yes…um…" Rachel said, looking for the right words, her eyes darting around the darkened area. "Can you please have some attendants to restrain the patient that is in the first floor bathtub, she seems to have escaped from her room, and direct me towards Dr. Midkiff?"

The woman, suddenly alert, pointed vaguely.

"He should be in the first floor reception room, please excuse me." The woman said, hurrying off towards the direction of the first floor bathroom, her white shoes clicking on the floor. Suddenly realizing her lack of shoes, Rachel shivered from the rapidly cooling water that she was soaked in, pulling the baby closer as she rushed to the reception room, which lay at almost the front entrance to the hospital, towards Dr. Midkiff.

Coming into the room that she had been pointed out to, she saw the wilted figure of Dr. Midkiff, leaning over a desk, looking over some notes that he seemed very interested in.

"Dr. Midkiff!" She shouted before grabbing a coat from a nearby shelve, and wrapping the newborn in it, rubbing her arms around the material to try to provide friction for the baby. "The…the patient…April Summers….she…"

"Tonight?" He questioned, not looking up from his papers, seeming to be unsurprised, which in turn surprised Rachel.

"W…what…?" Rachel stuttered, clutching the child close to her breasts.

"She had the child, I presume?" He questioned, turning up to give her a sharp eyed stare, looking at her own anxious expression.

"You…you knew?" She whispered, watching as the doctor rose from his chair and wandered towards the heavy doorway of the reception room, closing the door with a silent click before turning back towards her.


	3. Final Decision

Silent Hill Fan fiction Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: ME NO OWN SILENT HILL. BOOHOO**

**Author's Note: Anyway…here is where the White Claudia reference comes in, despite my last author's note -.-. The next chapter should also be the last of Rachel's POV, then it will do a time skip and skip to…my OC's POV…hehehe…this is going to be fun…**

**Also, thank you very much for the few who did bother to give me a review on the previous two chapters, I am very glad that you enjoyed them, although I feel I'm going a little fast on the story ^_^ Cookies for all that did manage to type a few words of encouragement for me. Because honestly…that's the only thing that keeps me writing most of the time. Though I think I could probably manage this story without anything…I'm just that much into it at the moment. But I'm sure my energy is going to burn off without reviews O.O**

**So, give me reviews to fuel the engine that is my I-M-A-G-I-N-A-T-I-O-N, where the various plot bunnies run amuck to wreak havoc and mayhem. HILARIOUS MAYHEM! WAHAHA!**

**Sincerely, (feels like I'm writing a letter when I put that, but OH WELL…)**

**~Hilarious-Mayhem, still a great big SH video game freak…and the movies ok also…I guess… O.O **

**_______________________________**

Rachel stood rooted to the same spot as the doctor's cold eyes landed on her, as if trying to see into her soul. Wondering what on earth was going on.

"I assume you know about the recent rumors concerning Alchemilla?" He asked, looking towards the young nurse with those same cold eyes.

"R…rumors? No, I hadn't heard anything, sir." She told Midkiff, becoming extremely confused at this train of conversation that the doctor was leading onto.

What was happening? This was so insane…what…

"Of course, I'd assumed…" He began, before he shook his head as if clearing those thoughts out. "But of course I suppose some haven't heard yet, we've tried to keep it quiet."

Kept quiet…? But why…

"What…are you talking about, sir?" She asked in confusion, looking slightly suspiciously at the Dr. Midkiff, who seemed to be making absolutely no sense at the moment.

"There have been rumors…" He informed her, walking back around to the reception desk, where he promptly sat down, shuffling through various papers before looking her straight in the eyes. "And I'm only telling you of this because you seem to be the one who found the child, and we can't have any misunderstandings now."

"What kind of rumors are you talking about?" Rachel asked, looking down at the baby in her arms before looking back towards Midkiff.

"Drug dealings." He said with a bit of finality in his tone, eyeing her with a bit of exasperation in his tone.

"What does this have to do with…?" Rachel began to ask, before she was cut off by Midkiff.

"Some…less than savory drug dealings have been rumored to being dealt around Alchemilla, something that is very disgraceful for the sanctity of our fine medical establishments." He sighed, picking up a cup that had been unnoticed by Rachel until now, taking a sip of the amber liquid. "With all that's happening at the moment, we can't have this getting out."

"We have to report this to the police, sir, this child…" She started to say, becoming at loss for words.

"This child will be sent to the Wish House, quietly, and without any rumors of its existence being spread among town." He stated with authority. "We've been planning for this episode ever since we realized that the woman was with child."

"What about that woman's family? Surely you must tell them of this, or at least give them the child…" She said desperately, trying to reason with him.

"The woman has no family; all of her family that was alive at the time of her placement into Brookhaven is now dead. And this occurrence cannot be spread to papers, which will obviously make more of the subject than it already is." He took another gulp of the amber liquid, which Rachel had begun to suspect was alcohol. "We could be shut down for this, if the right people hear about it."

"She wasn't pregnant before her family, her older mother and father, came and registered into Brookhaven, she was impregnated while in the institution." He informed her with a bit a slur in his voice. "We can't find any leads on who have may have fathered the child…we didn't even find out she was pregnant until the third month had passed, and the woman doesn't have any family any longer...the Wish House of Silent Hill has agreed to take in the child without any word of it to the authorities."

"This is crazy…" Rachel whispered fiercely. "I…I don't approve of this at all! And what do you mean that Wish House would take this child? Why would any orphanage do that without conformation? It's criminal!"

"You do have to admit that everything about this place is a little crazy." Another swig from the glass was taken. "But…we can't have this getting out. A patient impregnated by one of the one's who are assigned to care for her…imagine what would happen to our establishment if that were to be leaked. The drug dealings have already begun to set in motion a bit suspicion around here, but this is just…"

"…how did April get the key to the first floor bathroom?" Rachel asked apprehensively.

Midkiff had the decency to have a bit of surprise on his face, before looking back at Rachel questioningly, in the middle of taking a swig of that liquid again.

"The…key…I…I wouldn't know anything about that…" He said nervously, twirling the cup around and watching the liquid spiral lazily.

"She tried to drown the child, she tried to kill it." She informed him a bit stiffly. "Why didn't you put her under full-observation..? Or at the very least send her to a general hospital maternity ward?"

"Maybe that would be for the better…if it was dead…that Wish House…is completely…" He stopped, seeming to think for a moment before looking back at her with puffy, red eyes. "Completely…crazy… just like the rest of this god-forsaken town…it's all crazy…unnatural."

"It would be for the better if the child was dead? Is that what you're saying?" Rachel asked incredulously, glaring at the doctor heatedly.

"Maybe we'd all be better dead." He stated, leaning back in the chair and looking blankly at the ceiling.

"Sir, I don't know what exactly is wrong with you at the moment, of if you have some sort of problem, but you had better start giving me some answers or I'll take this straight to the police." Rachel said firmly, steadily glaring at the doctor, who seemed to be ignoring her words. "And I think you also should consider going to a doctor yourself, obviously you're under a tremendous load of stress and…"

"No, no, I'm just a little…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Worn-out."

"This child isn't being sent to the Wish House." Rachel said abruptly, in a stubborn tone. "An organization that will take in just any child, regardless of the extent that it could be criminal…I'm not allowing it to happen."

"Fine! Take the kid, do what you want, just don't reveal its existence." He said callously, with an unfeeling tone edging his tone. What he said, however, caused Rachel to gasp in surprise before giving a fleeting look towards the child in question. She, the little girl who April had called Jennifer, was gently sleeping, her lips pursed delicately, and her fair eyelashes occasionally twitching in her sleep.

"I…I couldn't…wait…I…" She began to stutter terribly, her mind a jumbled mess.

"Take it." He commanded, waving a hand in the air lazily.

"This…this isn't right though, sir, what would I do with a child? I already am taking care of my mother…if I took a child; I couldn't do both…and what about her records? What about…" She trailed off.

"We can give her a fake birth certificate; have it sent over from Alchemilla." He paused. "We could have all the arrangement done if you were willing to take the child…yes, this could actually work…it's far better than sending it to that wacky house…and…"

"Sir!" She exclaimed wincing as the shout awakened the baby, who began crying loudly. "Shhh…its ok baby…its ok Jennifer…no…no that name doesn't sound right…"

"We can give the child any name you want, we'll just say that…you were the mother, give it your last name." Midkiff ranted on, his voice a low whisper.

"What would I tell _my_ mother?" Rachel said in despair, feeling her defenses on the subject slowly wane down to nothing; for she actually did finding herself slowly becoming attached to the small child within her arms, her maternal instincts slowly intertwining with that of her love for children.

What would she tell her mother though…? Sure, her mother was one of the more understanding people she knew, but certainly this couldn't be blown over without a proper explanation…

What would she say? What would she do? She certainly couldn't take a child…could she really?

"Tell her…that you found the child." Midkiff drawled slowly. "Yes, yes, you found the child…left out on the footsteps of Brookhaven! Tell her you want to keep her." He said, seeming to become a bit excited at the prospect of ridding himself of this problem.

"…I don't know…" She whispered in despair, slowly turning her eyes to look at the child's face.

"Just please, please Rachel, don't go to the authorities with this…Brookhaven could be ruined…Alchemilla could even go under if the authorities took those dealings seriously…and then what would happen if someone where to have gotten hurt? Hum…?" He asked, a bit of desperation in his tone, his features drenched in worry.

"I don't see how the condition of this hospital concerns me…you can consider this conversation to be my resignation." Rachel said flatly.

Turning towards the door furiously, Rachel almost reached the doorknob before a hand, for the second time that day, clutched on her right arm, preventing her successful escape.

"Rachel…this child would be taken away if the police where to catch wind of this anyway, she would probably even then end up in the house." He paused, letting this sink into Rachel's head, whose frame was rigid at the touch of Midkiff's hand. "It would be useless, and the Wish House of Silent Hill is the only orphanage around…that's where all of the children that are parentless here eventually end up…"

This fact seemed to affect Rachel, her muscles relaxing in defeat before she turned around to look crossly at the doctor, who was now smiling smugly, knowing that he had won the argument.

"You're disgusting." Rachel hissed, anger blazing in her eyes as she stared at the man who stood before her. "But…you're right."

"I know I am correct…are you sure you still want to keep that resignation active?" He purred contentedly, letting go of Rachel's arm to go back towards the reception desk.

"Of that, I am completely sure…this place is…awful." She said testily, before reaching towards the door. "But…I will take the child. And I won't let her be taken to the Wish House…you can believe that."

"The hospital could give you…a little something for your trouble, just to keep you happy with the arrangement." Midkiff suggested, raising his eyebrows towards Rachel.

"I don't want any of your _bribes." _She sneered, her lips curling up in disgust.

"I was thinking more like Hush Money, but I suppose that word would do also." He said, smiling deviously.

"Whatever, I'm leaving now, and don't expect me to be back here anytime soon." Rachel said in finality, before opening the door, going out, and slamming it forcefully, heading directly towards the entrance to the hospital, pushing rudely past the nurse who she had spoken to earlier without apology.

As her feet hit the pavement of Carroll Street, she practically ran to the neighboring street, Rendell, clutching the baby to her chest protectively, as to not drop the now-bawling child.

As usual during the nighttime, the streets of Silent Hill were converged in a thin layer of fog, coming from the direction of Toluca Lake, which happened to at one time be the main attraction to the town of Silent Hill, unfortunately though, after the various boating accidents that occurred on Toluca most of the tourism in that area had settled to minimum.

This fog didn't deter Rachel from her destination though; she had memorized the streets like the back of her hand, having also grown up in this area. She could probably find her way home from Brookhaven with a blindfold over her eyes.

Disoriented as she was from the occurrences that had happened earlier in the day, she stumbled her way home.

How had this happened anyway?

It had been just a regular day earlier, her waking up in her own bed, then groggily getting up to prepare for her work for the day.

A normal day…

Looking down at the child within her arms as she came close to the apartment where she and her mother resided, she concluded that the normal day that had been in process during the morning had been completely blown off course. This had to be the most bizarre day that she had ever had so far. And to top that off, she now had a child to care after…

But she could always go to the police…this wasn't something that should be kept a secret, despite the pandemonium that might occur in the hospital due to it. How could Dr. Midkiff possibly think that he could keep the child a confidential matter?

"_But…" _Her eyes still on the child, she remembered the conversation from earlier. _"What would happen to her if I did that?" _

Rachel then made her decision.


	4. Diary Entry 1

_**Six Months Later…**_

_Diary Entry # 1_

_I finally have moved._

_Mother passed away just last month…and I've finally moved out of that retched apartment, which was leased under her name. I miss my mother terribly; she gave me so much support when I took in Larsen. _

_She loved her…just like she was her own. Just as I myself do at this very moment, as I watch her playing in her tiny playpen._

_Yes, her name is Larsen. She just turned six months old last week…three weeks after the death of mother. But her death was eventually going to happen; I just don't know why it's hitting me so hard now…_

_Anyway, mother and I chose the name…it's a bit better than Jennifer, that just brings back too many memories. And it was never her official name, just the ranting of some insane woman, the very same woman that gave as well as tried to take the life away from this child._

_Larsen is a bright and playful child. _

_During my first months of having her, she hardly ever cried._

_Mother said this was extraordinary, as I was a child who constantly woke her and father up during the night. One of the many reasons I am an only child, I suppose…_

_Larsen is the most beautiful thing in my life at the moment though. She is a beautiful child, with bright blue eyes and a small down of copper colored hair on her tiny head. And the cutest dusting of freckles on her nose…_

_She looks a lot different from her paternal mother…which is strange enough…perhaps she takes after features from her…father. _

_Whoever that godless man might be, we'll probably never know, lord knows I've tried to find out._

_There have been no leads to the actual father of Larsen though, because April was impregnated during her stay at Brookhaven. Even if we did catch him, I seriously doubt anything could be done about it. If I were to expose that…incident that caused me to gain Larsen, I would be as much at fault for not turning it in. So I suppose it is best not to find him…else Larsen could be…taken._

_What was I to do though? _

_I couldn't let her be taken off to that…place._

_I've heard the rumors about the Wish House as well as anybody else in Silent Hill has, the sound of children crying during the night hours…and the strange chanting. _

_It's just not natural and I wouldn't ever allow Larsen to be taken there. If I had a chance to do everything again, I wouldn't change a thing about my decision._

_This child is now my life, completely and fully._

_And I intend fully to protect her with whatever force I have in body to do so, whether it be rain or shine. Whether I must stand to opposition or not._

_I suppose I should explain a couple of things, though._

_After the incident at the hospital, I went home and talked it out with mom…I told her the truth, yes, the full and honest truth about how I came to own Larsen. It was quite a surprise at first, but she was extremely calm, considering the circumstances. She said later that she loved Larsen the first moment she saw her…maybe I did too._

_The hospital never called back, never showed any recollection of me having taken a baby off their hands…they…I don't even know what to say about that subject. It sickens me to even think of that place nowadays…those horrible screams, the sound of crazed whispering through the walls…_

_So I suppose I will just leave at that._

_I'm leaving and never coming back to this town of Silent Hill, perhaps Midkiff was right in the fact that this place is cursed. That's the only thing he would ever be right about during our conversation anyway._

_But, on to future events so I can stop wallowing in the past events. Events of which I will never tell Larsen when she grows older. _

_I recently applied to the general vicinity of a small town nearby, called Ashfield, in a place called, "St. Jerome's" it seems like a well-enough place, much better than Brookhaven. It attends to general patients usually, something that appeals to me now. _

_I am hoping that I am able to get a job at this medical facility, the chances look promising for now._

_I think if I end up getting a job there I might move to Ashfield. Larsen and I are staying with a friend now, a good friend, just until I find somewhere other to live._

_There is another somewhat promising offer nearby the hospital I'm planning to work, an apartment complex called, "South Ashfield Heights", a good friend of mine says he knows the superintendent there, Frank Sunderland, so we should be able to get a good deal on an apartment._

_Hopefully we can get moved in soon, I'm very excited to be living alone finally…well, aside from Larsen. _

_But this will be good for us, a new, fresh start. _

_Away from Silent Hill. _

_Away from bad memories. _

_I just hope we have the strength to break away completely._

_Signed, _

_Rachel Harding._


	5. Moves and Meetings

**Chapter Five- Moves and First Meetings**

_**Disclaimer: DOSH- Don't own Silent Hill. I really wish I did though…if I did Henry Townshend would probably be chained up in my house at this moment. Hehe...**_

**Author's Note: Here's chapter five…I'm having fun creating this story…ha-ha. I'm very sorry if I messed up any facts, by the way. I am SOOO not good at the kind of stuff, I'm not a factorial sort of person…it's more like I just let my fingers run away on the keyboard, and sometimes ignore things. -.- I would very much appreciate more reviews if I am to continue regularly on this. As of this moment, I have a LOT to work on, and I have school right now, so if this isn't given any attention, I'm afraid the chapters will come a bit slowly. . **

**Hummm…also…I didn't know the name of the artist in room 202, whom Rachel was in love with and who was in love with her, so I made up a name. I don't think it specified his name is SH4 anyway, so I'm sure it will be fine. But if any of you remember a name, please tell me. Or at least insert the name into every place where it is supposed to be. Just use your imagination in that case.**

**Anyway, thank you so much to those who have given me reviews and this chapter is dedicated purely to them! **

**Love and cookies for all,**

**~Hilarious-Mayhem**

*****

_**(As quoted from Silent Hill 3)**_

_In the beginning, people had nothing…_

_Their bodies ached and their hearts held nothing but hatred._

_They fought endlessly,_

_But death…never came._

_They despaired, stuck in the eternal quagmire._

_A man offered a serpent to the sun and prayed for salvation._

_A woman offered a reed to the sun and prayed for joy…_

_Feeling pity for the sadness that overrun the earth,_

_God was born from these two people…_

_God made time and divided it into night and day._

_God outlined the road to salvation,_

_And gave people joy._

_And god took endless time away from the people,_

_God created beings to lead people in obedience._

_The red god, Xuchilbara._

_The yellow god, Lobsel Vith._

_Many gods and angels…_

_Finally, god set out to create paradise,_

_Where people would be happy; just by being there._

_But then…god's strength ran out…_

_And she collapsed._

_All the worlds' people grieved this unfortunate event,_

_Yet god breathed her last._

_She returned to the dust, _

_Promising to come again…_

_So god hasn't been lost._

_We must offer our prayers and not forget our faith._

_We wait in hope for the day, _

_When the path to paradise will be opened._

_*****_

"Hey! Please be careful with that!"

Rachel berated a nearby moving man who was lugging a fair amount of her moderately expensive furniture into her new apartment, number 106, a scruffy looking man who only a moment before had dropped one end of the couch abruptly, accidentally scuffing her floor.

The man nodded sheepishly at her in acknowledgement, doing as Rachel said.

Rachel watched over the following proceedings with enthusiasm, holding the seven month old Larsen in her arms, the young infant curiously watching with big, blue inexperienced eyes, her hand finding its way to her mouth, only to be chewed on with newly developed baby teeth.

Rachel smiled fondly at this action, cooing at the young girl before reaching into her baby bag and pulling out one of Larsen's toys, a plush of an elephant that seemed to be her favorite.

At the sight of the blue fabric that surrounded the cotton that made up her plush toy, the baby reached her hands curiously towards it, getting her point across that she, _wanted her toy. _

It was funny, but despite the fact that Larsen didn't have much success at the ability of speech at the moment, she usually got her points across very easily.

Rachel, giving up with a tired sigh, handed the girl the elephant, watching as she fingered the plushy before beginning to chew on the soft cotton-filled trunk. For about a minute or so, this entertained the child, before she abruptly dropped the plushy elephant and began to squirm irritably in Rachel's grip, starting to set off loud, fussy cries in Rachel's arms.

"You hungry sweetheart…?" Rachel asked with a note of exasperation in her tone, looking down at Larsen, who was obviously upset.

At the sound of Rachel's voice the child began to cry even harder, tiny little tears weaving their way down her sob reddened cheeks.

"We'll get you some food then honey…" Rachel cooed towards the infant, patting the child's back before reaching into her trusty baby bag again, this time coming up with a half-full bottle of milk. Larsen could eat solid foods that were very easily digestible, but milk was best for her right now, seeing as how she was so young. So Rachel usually carried a bottle around with her.

The baby latched onto the bottle forcefully as soon as Rachel raised it near her lips, sucking forcefully on the nipple of the bottle.

"Slow down there bucko…" Rachel said playfully, pulling the bottle back a little so the infant wouldn't be able to choke herself. She was certainly tenacious…

"Hey, Miss Harding, where would you like me to put this…?" One of the moving men questioned this, pointing his thumb towards Larsen's crib set in indication of what he was talking about.

"Oh…just set it in my room, please." Rachel replied rather listlessly, still paying attention to the child in her arms. This answer seemed to satisfy the man though, because he picked up the object and set it just outside her bedroom door, coming back into the living room to address her.

"Sure thing." The man said, leaving out the front of the door to retrieve the rest of Rachel's possessions, letting another man slip by him as he went out.

That man in question, in tow with a boy that looked about the age of about fifteen years old, looked towards Rachel with a friendly expression, running his hand through a head full of brownish blonde hair, run through with tiny almost nonexistent strands of silver.

That man in question at the moment was none other than Frank Sunderland, the superintendent of South Ashfield Heights since it had first been established some twenty or so years previously, he was someone who Rachel had tentatively made friends with in her various expeditions here, to check out the room that she had planned on buying.

Rachel didn't exactly have the best budget at the moment, since she was still waiting for word from St. Jerome's, the hospital not far from this very apartment, but the apartment in question had just fit her price range, something she was very much relieved about. Frank had helped her all the way through the process.

He was a really nice guy…

And he was also her neighbor, living right door in Room 105, which was very convenient.

"Hello, I was on an errand at the moment anyway and thought I would just come by to see how everything is turning out…with the move." The man paused, looking around the room in a familiar gesture. "But everything looks as well as it should, I suppose."

"Ah, yes, everything's going great so far. Hopefully I can get all of this unpacked by tomorrow…so Larsen and I can get settled in. Thank you for coming by Frank, it really means a lot…" Rachel paused, holding onto the squirming, now-satisfied Larsen, who was at this moment gurgling happily and staring at the new visitors that they had with her own childish curiosity.

"And who do you have there with you…?" Rachel asked curiously, looking at the boy who had accompanied Frank.

"Oh…of course, I forget to give introduction." The superintendent looked back at the young boy right beside him, a young handsome blonde boy who stood politely behind him, a slightly bored expression on his face.

"This is my son, James…he's staying with me while his mother is busy with work." Frank stated proudly, putting one tan hand on the boy's shoulder. "And James, this is Rachel, my new tenant, although you probably have already guessed as much."

"Ah, James," Rachel said with a sunny smile plastered on her face, a genuine smile, shifting Larsen to one side of her shoulder before she moved towards the young adolescent boy, holding out her hand in a welcoming gesture. "I've heard Frank talk about you before, it's really nice to finally be able meet you."

"Likewise..." The teenage boy said with a slightly awkward smile, shaking Rachel's hand calmly before stepping back towards his father.

"Hey...." Frank said suddenly, stepping towards Rachel with a jubilant smile, looking upon the child in her arms. "Well isn't she getting bigger…why, I remember when James was that age…he would always…"

"Dad…" James said with a slight hint of exasperation, a slight sheepish look on his face, looking towards the older man as if he were going to begin pouting. Frank chuckled at his son's embarrassment.

"Alright, no trips down memory lane today…but it is fun to tell the story about when you…" Frank began, only to be interrupted yet again by his son.

"Dad…" James grumbled.

"Ok, fine, no story." Frank grumbled, though obviously amused, turning back towards Rachel, and seeming to completely lose interest in exposing James's embarrassing childhood stories. The boy seemed relieved about this, breathing an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

"She is a pretty little thing though, cute as a button." Frank said in a rather fond tone, ruffling the child's very little amount of copper colored hair before patting her small back soothingly and moving back again, towards his son. "And that red hair…something else."

"Thank you, I think so too." Rachel said warmly, smiling brightly, holding the bundle in her arms even closer. "And thank you again for coming by to check up Frank…I just don't have hardly anybody right now, since mom died…so it really does mean a lot."

"It's no problem…really. I'd better be on my way though Rachel, I have to take my son back home to his mother…but I hope you have an easy time adjusting to the apartments, there are quite a variety of different characters here, so it's hard for some…to adjust, but if you ever need anything at all, you know that you can always come find me in my apartment, right next door." Frank said, raising a hand in farewell, before James and he started towards the front door.

"See ya later!" She shouted from the door, waving towards the older man before going back into her apartment and waiting for the men to bring in the rest of the things, beginning to tear open various boxes.

Larsen sat contently in her playpen that was set up on the right side of the room, snoozing away obliviously. She had fallen asleep only shortly after being placed in the padded pen.

It was understandable; it had been a very long day, even for Rachel.

Sighing in that exhaustion, Rachel stepped back from her unpacking, admiring her handiwork with a slight smile of satisfaction on her face, spreading into one of full-out joy.

So far, so good!

*****

Only two days after the initial move to South Ashfield Heights, Rachel had unpacked the final item from the various boxes the movers had brought it, something she did with great relish, thinking of it as some sort of christening on her new apartment, a welcoming. All day yesterday she had stumbled over all of the cardboard death-traps set around her apartment, trying to unload all of the things with a bit of trouble on her part.

She had also, in her few moments of spare time, made two calls to St. Jerome's in the past two days, inquiring on her application she had posted for a job, but there wasn't any positive news at the moment.

She had a little money saved until she could get a job…but that was running out pretty quickly, so hopefully they would call about her employment soon.

But Rachel tried not to stress on it, kept telling herself that money troubles were the _least _of her perpetual worries. Unfortunately, this sentiment wasn't exactly the most comforting. It was times like these when…she just…she just felt…so lonely.

She felt very much alone, so much sometimes that she felt as if she could just burst out screaming.

But she wasn't alone; she had Larsen, her beautiful child…so she was slightly pacified by that fact.

That morning, a Sunday morning at that, Rachel decided that she was going to take Larsen to the park, something she felt she herself needed to stave off some of the oncoming stress she had been dealing with.

After this decision was made, she loaded up Larsen in the carriage she had bought a couple of days ago at a garage sale, watching as the girl's eyes drooped sleepily when she was put into the clothe covered carrier. Then she went out the front door, scooting the carrier out.

Setting Larsen to the side of the door, Rachel took out her house key, fumbling to insert the metal into the key hole for a moment, and making a satisfied noise in her throat when it clicked, effectively locking the door.

This task completed, Rachel backed up, and only ended up bumping into a solid object that seemed rooted right behind her, which made a huff as she impacted on it, scooting it back with the slight weight of her body. Steadying herself, Rachel gathered her bearings, trying to figure out what the object was for a moment, feeling something warm on her back.

A person?

"Oh! Oh…I'm so, so sorr…" Rachel began to apologize, moving away from the chest she felt before turning to look at the figure she had bumped into, before she came face to face with the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen, an amused look on the face of the person in question.

Her words froze in her mouth, leaving her flabbergasted for moment.

"Oh." She finally breathed, feeling like an idiot.

"It's fine…" The man said his voice deep and obviously amused. "No big deal, I was just on my way to Frank's room to discuss something with him."

"Ah…well…" Rachel stumbled over her words, clutching at the keys in her hand nervously as the man quietly looked her over for a moment. Not looking over in a lewd way though, more…reflective. "I…I'm still very sorry for not watching where I was going, I'm not usually this unobservant…usually…"

"You must be that new tenant that Frank mentioned…" The man finally said with a slightly tentative smile, almost…shy, holding out his hand for Rachel to shake.

She hesitantly took the extended hand, gripping its warm, smooth surface before pumping her own hand up and down in greeting.

After this ended, the man held onto her hand still for moment, not letting go. Not that she really wanted him to let go… but she was very shy…and this situation was very…uncomfortable.

"Yes…I just got moved in a couple of days ago…" She said a bit uneasily, looking up at his face, something that was very much appealing to look at for her. He sure was a pretty guy…almost too pretty.

"I know." He said with a wave of his hand, letting go of her own hand finally, which she responded to by pulling it quickly away. "A lot of people around this place have been talking about you. There are a bunch of nosy people around here, you know. They have a fuss whenever someone new moves in."

"Is that so?" She asked, grabbing Larsen's carriage. "Well…I don't really know anybody aside from Frank right now…so I guess I wouldn't know about that stuff…"

"Ah, but that's not true, now you know me." He replied with an easy-looking smile. "But I suppose I should make a formal introduction."

"My name is Bryan McAllister and I am a painter by profession. I live in room 202, just on the second floor, east side of the apartment, and I'm twenty-four years old…now that I have introduced myself, it's nice to meet you…Miss…?" He asked rather playfully, smiling crookedly.

"Rachel, Rachel Harding, it's nice to meet you also." Rachel said with a sudden smile, beginning to feel a bit more comfortable around the handsome young man.

"Well, Miss Harding, I am pleased to be your first real acquaintance of the South Ashfield Height's apartment beside's old Frank." He paused, smiling in response, before his eyes turned towards the carriage, which was now right beside Rachel.

"And I'm also pleased to make this little beauties acquaintance…and what is her name?" The artist cooed, turning his head to smile up at Rachel.

"Oh, her name is Larsen…" Rachel said softly, also turning her head towards the infant, before smiling suddenly at the expression on the child's face. "She likes you."

"Your daughter?" He asked, not looking in her direction, his head seeming to be bending down, looking at the cheaply paned floors as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Rachel told him pleasantly, still feeling a bit uncomfortable about talking of Larsen's origins. Even with a guy who seemed as nice as him.

"And it's just you and her living here…?" He suddenly questioned, intensely looking towards Rachel with those blue eyes that she had first noticed.

This stunned her for a moment, making her answer rather shaky.

"Y...yes, that's right…" She said sheepishly, blinking.

"Well…" He sighed suddenly, lifting a hand up to run it through his dark brown hair. "Miss Larsen, Miss Rachel, I really must be on my way. I have something to discuss with Frank, unfortunately enough."

"Ok...it was…really nice to meet you." Rachel said slowly, slightly disappointed, and began to walk away down the long hallway with the carriage in toe, til she was interrupted from her departure by the sound of his voice.

"But…if you're ever in my side of the apartment, both of you be sure to visit. I'll even paint you something." He said in an amused voice towards the departing Rachel, who turned to look at him with a genuine smile.

Only one little word was replied back, lost in the stillness of the hallway, which was empty, besides the two slowly departing figures, one in toe with another, smaller being.

"Definitely…"

*****

_There was once was a baby and a mother _

_Who were connected by a magical cord…_

_But one day the cord was cut, _

_And the mother went to sleep._

_The baby was left all alone._

_But the baby made a lot of friends at Wish House, _

_And everyone was nice to him._

_The baby was happy…_

_*****_

Rachel adjusted well into her new apartment.

It was on her second week there that she finally got a call from St. Jerome's looking towards her employment at that medical facility, and had an interview scheduled for the next week. They were short on staff at the moment and had looked over her resume, so she had a fairly good chance of being able to get a job there.

She had already made arrangements for Larsen to have a babysitter, so that was covered and fully taken care of should she be able to snag a job at the hospital.

She had also met some more tenants of the apartment besides Bryan, whom she hadn't a chance to visit yet, though she was planning to.

On her fourth day in the apartments, she had met a woman from Room 102, whom had come by to bring her a housewarming gift.

The gift had been a small welcoming mat that read as this, _"No outfit is complete without cat hair."_

The mat itself was…weird on its own, though she wouldn't ever say that to the woman in question who had given her the mat.

She put the rug in her closet, covering it up with tons of stuff that she considered junk. She supposed the woman was a cat lover though…so maybe it wasn't strange for her.

Another woman had the opportunity to bring her something to, another housewarming gift. It was great sized woman from Room 204, who brought her several dishes of food, which was actually more appropriate for a house gift. The moment she had tried the food, Rachel had almost died in pleasure.

The woman was a terrific cook…

Occasionally Rachel would also here a hint of music from the room right next door, Room 107. She knew a man lived there, and she also knew that he loved music; she inferred that because it played constantly. But other than that, Rachel met no new occupants during her stay, supposedly because some of the rooms were so out of the way.

Everything was going pretty well for the moment.

But then…she began to notice something a little…well….strange.

It all started on the day her second week at the apartment began.

That Friday she noticed a plastic box with an address pasted clumsily on the top sitting on her doorstep.

She hadn't remembered ordering anything that could be wrapped in a box such as that, so she had checked the label that was in white on the top lid of the box, instantly understanding why the package had been at her doorstep.

Apparently the person who had delivered it had mixed up the numbers of the apartments; hers was 106, while the number on the package read 301 for the delivery address.

Shaking her head in exasperation and wondering how someone could possibly mix up those two particular numbers, Rachel sighed before towing the box in her house and setting it up on the table, deciding not to bother Frank with it and just tote the box up there herself. It's not as if she had anything to do anyway…Larsen was asleep and had been rather unfussy lately since they moved into the apartments.

Rachel, as per usual, loaded up Larsen in her carriage, carrying the misplaced package in her hands before dropping it yet again onto the ground, causing the untapped contents of the box to fly out.

Reaching down with another sigh, she began to pick up the paper before pausing in disgust as she caught sight of the contents.

"_Sickening…" _She though with a slightly scowl, looking down at the repulsive magazine she had picked up, which held a naked woman on the front cover, a sensual smile plastered on her face as she held up a red strawberry, about to take a bite of it.

A porno magazine…

Rachel packed it up, disgusted, and almost decided to give it off to Frank for him to take up, but resolved to do it by herself and not bother him. She shivered, though she was definitely not savoring the task of delivering these sordid magazines to whomever lived in Room 301, she would not bother Frank on the subject.

Rachel put the plastic lid back on the magazines after placing the less than savory things back into their container, toting them in her arm as if they were diseased before beginning to head towards the flight of stairs heading towards the second floor, dreading the process of going up the troublesome things.

She had quite a bit of trouble yanking Larsen's buggy up the stairs and holding onto the dirty box, but she managed it somehow.

Upon finally getting up to the third floor, which required two flights of stairs, Rachel sighed, rowing the carriage down the hall before her eye caught something rather peculiar as she neared Room 301.

It was…very….strange, to say the least. Unusual.

Just a room or so down from Room 301, her assigned destination, a young boy who looked to be about ten years old at least stood unmoving in the hallway, a slightly too-small red and blue striped shirt covering him, his blonde hair hanging in his eyes, hidden from her view.

He was just standing there in front of the door, as if he were waiting for something to happen.

Almost just like…how April used to do…looking outside Brookhaven's hospital window…

Rachel stopped completely at this thought, slightly scared at the observation she had made, simply watching the boy.

He was unmoving for a moment, before he raised his fingers up towards the door, knocking softly once, before he seemed to feel her presence and slowly turned to look in her direction, almost in a frightened, skittish manner.

Pure green eyes glanced terrified up at her from under that head of dirty blonde hair, the color of bright summertime leaves. Not blue eyes…like…_hers…_

Slightly relieved for some unexplainable reason, Rachel watched as the boy stared stonily at her, before his eyes moved down…towards the carriage that she held in toe…towards Larsen.

He looked slightly curious for a still moment then, tilting his head towards the carriage as if to get a better look, all fear vanishing from his features for a moment to be replaced with a childish softness that was meant to be on the face of a child his age, and not that solemn and sad expression that he had carried just earlier on his young face.

"Hello." She said towards the boy as this happened, nervous with him looking at Larsen.

_Her baby, _Larsen.

He remained unmoving, only his eyes coming up to look at her face and his suddenly mouth compressing as if he were displeased, or nervous for some reason. The same stony expression covered his face, as if it were a mask to be slipped on and off.

Did he live in this apartment?

Was he the child of one of the occupants?

Rachel was certain no one with a child lived on this side of the apartment…from what Frank had told her of the occupants…so what would a child be doing here?

"Hello?" She asked again rather uncertainly, finally getting a reaction from the prone figure, though it wasn't a desired reaction to be given.

The sound of her voice sounding out again seemed to startle the young dirty blonde-headed boy. He took on a panicked look, his eyes darting from side to side, as if he were looking for a way of potential escape.

He looked like a cornered animal…but…why?

Abruptly, the boy ran quickly past her, his footsteps clanking loudly as she heard him step down each individual stair, before the noise vanished.

Surprised, Rachel blinked, frowning at this.

With a sigh, she continued hesitantly on, the occurrence still weighing down on her mind heavily. She hesitated before knocking on the door to Room 301, glancing at the room the boy had been standing at, Room 302. He looked like he had been waiting…why did they always have to look like they were waiting? And more than that…

What had he been waiting for?

Sighing again, Rachel knocked on the door, gripping Larsen's carriage in apprehension.

The door opened after a couple of these same knocks, a wicked smell coming from the room as the door flew open, a very young man stepping out to look sleepily at Rachel, before his eyes widened and he looked as if he were surprised.

"H…Hello…uh…" The man, who looked to be only about seventeen or eighteen years old mumbled, looking shyly up at her. He certainly wasn't what she had been expecting…

"Excuse me…but…" She thought for a moment, trying to remember a name.

"Mike." The young man, Mike, supplied, smiling.

"Yes, Mike, I just got a delivery at my…door…and I believe it may be yours…" She said awkwardly, holding up the plastic box, feeling embarrassed at holding such material.

At the sight of this package, however, the younger man's eyes lit up, taking on a deranged, maniacally excited quality as he snatched the bulky package out of her hands eagerly, suddenly seeming to take his eyes away for the moment to eye her chest.

Disgusting…she tried to stay neutral on the subject, feeling as if she had no business in this…but this was just utterly appalling.

Just now…was he…looking at her breasts?

"Thank…you so very much! I've been waiting on these issues of my favorite magazine forever!" He suddenly looked sheepish, turning his eyes coyly away from her chest. "You didn't open it…did ya? Cause I have some mint condition stuff in here that could have been ruined if exposed to the light."

"No...I just…brought it here…" Rachel lied, slightly disturbed by the man.

She certainly wasn't going to tell him that she saw his "mint condition magazines", that was for sure.

"Ok." The young man said happily, suddenly looking Rachel up and down. It was…unsettling. Even more unsettling than him blatantly staring at her chest.

"You just wait out here for just a sec…I'm gonna put these up and I'll be right back. I'd like to um…talk." The man fumbled, gripping onto his "collection."

"Oh…well, I have to go take my daughter home…so I really can't…" She said uncomfortably, clutching the carriage even harder.

"Daughter? A mother, eh? Well…it'll only be a minute." He said in a husky tone, making shivers run up and down Rachel's spine. She was seriously getting creeped out by this man…

"I really shouldn't…I mean…I have to get Larsen back home…" She tried to say uncomfortably before she was interrupted; she really wanted to get out of the younger mans presence.

"Just wait one moment please." He said, before moving back into the apartment, the door fanning the retched smell of his living space towards Rachel's face. She wondered faintly for a moment if anyone had ever complained of it. It smelled like…well…it smelled very unsanitary, comparable to body excretement.

At the moment he went back into his foul smelling apartment, Rachel made her escape; pushing the carriage along as fast as she possibly could, having a profound hope to never encounter that particular man again.

"Hey! Wait! I didn't even get your name!" She heard him suddenly yell after she had cleared about half of the hallway. She ignored his voice heading down the stairs quickly.

She was definitely not hanging around there anymore…

When she arrived back down to the first floor, she rushed towards her room, only to see Frank coming into his apartment room.

"Hey, Frank!" She shouted down the hall, catching the superintendent's attention, who looked up at her direction in a friendly way.

"Oh, hey there Rachel, do you need something…?" Frank asked as she neared him, out of breath and still toting around the still-sleeping Larsen. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh…actually there is something I wanted to ask you about…" She began.

"Hummm…? And what would that be…?" Frank questioned with a slightly curious expression.

"Well…I delivered a package earlier…it got mixed up…I guess…and…" Rachel began.

"Oh, well I could have done that for you if you were to ask Rachel, it's really not a bother. I know you have a child to care for and don't have much time on your hands. You should come to me for these things." Frank berated her.

"Yeah, well I didn't have much to do and figured I would do it…but, that's not what I was going to ask. It's actually about this kid…is there a little boy…about ten, blonde hair, this high…" She motioned the height, about to her waist. "Living in these apartments?"

"Oh, you mean that." Frank's face suddenly took on a look of understanding, his eyes darkening. "That kid…I swear. No, there isn't a child like that _living_ here…but some kid comes around Room 302 on the third floor constantly. I've gotten complaints from almost all the occupants on that subject. I've already told the kid not to come around anymore, but he just…keeps coming…I really don't know what to do…besides call the cops…but he's just a ten year old for Christ's sake…I wouldn't call the cops on a child for just coming around…"

"I was just wondering…not complaining…he just seemed very strange to me…off, if you would say." She explained to Frank, who nodded again, his features softening.

"He's a strange one, alright. Comes here to the apartments in an unwaveringly pattern…just ignore him and he won't do nothing except stand in front of 302…but it will be a problem when I finally get to rent the place out…" Frank mused, scratching at his head in thought.

"Sure thing, Frank, thank you for telling me…it just seemed off to me…so I thought I should at least ask you about it, since you would know pretty much everything that goes on around here." She explained, thanking him and heading towards her own apartment.

"No problem, just tell me if he ever does anything to bother you and I'll see if I can catch him to have a talk with him. He really doesn't seem like a bad kid…just a little…strange…but it'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Frank said, opening his own apartment and stepping inside, disappearing from Rachel's sight.

As Rachel made her way towards her own apartment, and fumbled for the key to stick into the lock, she didn't notice at all a pair of eyes watching her and the carriage in curiosity, hidden from view.

And at that moment Rachel didn't know that she had been thrown from the pan and into the fire.

__________

**Mike's a pervert. Eh…yeah, and Bryan is now my name for the artist. **

**So…so many questions now.**

**Who had been watching Rachel?**

**Where am I going with this story?**

**What does Larsen have to do with the assumption of the Holy Mother?**

**If you have any ideas of where you would like this story to go, give a comment, it might be incorporated into the story later on if it's a good idea. Also, remember that this is a "what-if" story, so no complaints on my take of it. This is however just Silent Hill 4 with an added element to the mix.**

**All that said, flames are used to make smores, which I will enjoy thoroughly in Hilarious Mayhem style.**


	6. Say Hello to the past

_**"What happened here will never be forgotten." -SH **_

_**Clips of the Past: Scene One**_

_Harold Midkiff did not expect a visit from the Order so soon. And yet only a week after Rachel Harding's departure, he found himself sitting in his office with none other than the priest of the Valtiel Sector, Jimmy Stone. The "Red Devil" as he was called. _

_He sat behind his desk, looking at the person in the chair across from him with a bit of fear. This wasn't good...what to do..._

_"Hello Midkiff." The priest said with his mouth in a tight, small smirk, directed towards the doctor. "I'm sure you know why I'm here."_

_"Of course. I'm not a complete idiot. But I sure as hell didn't expect you to be here so damned early." Midkiff mumbled, staring longingly at the cabinet at the corner of his office, which held his scotch._

_"Where is the child?"_

_The doctor swallowed, his eyes darting from one side of the room to another, careful not to the land on that damnable man. _

_He certainly wasn't proud of it, but he had his own dirty connections with the Holy Order, along with various other criminal activities._

_"What about it?" He asked boldly, hoping to bluff his way out of this particuliar situation. This is why he had sent the kid with Rachel in the first place. He might have been every type of bastard imaginable, but he wasn't so much of one that he would sent a helpless lamb to the slaughter. These people were absolutely crazy._

_"I didn't expect that this would go smoothly." Jimmy Stone sighed, a smile twitching. "But I suppose I'll have to do this the hard way..."_

_"What do you mean by..." Dr. Midkiff began, only to have a pistol shoved in his face. He froze in terror. "Jimmy...you know me...I've done everything I can for the Order! I never saw the kid..."_

_"Let me tell you something, Midkiff." Jimmy said angrily, and grabbed the doctors collar, dragging him across the desk. _

_"That bitch April and the Summers family tried to pull one over the Order. They tried to escape, and you know what happened? We caught them. You think we won't catch that kid or you for the matter? If so, you're a idiot."_

_"Y-yes...I'm aware Jimmy..." Midkiff said, eyeing the gun that was only inches away from his nose._

_"You better start giving me some answers...I'm not in the mood to play any games." The deadly tone of his voice showed that he was completely serious, and Midkiff didn't doubt it a bit that Jimmy would kill him._

_"I really don't know anything Jimmy, honest." Dr. Midkiff told him. The gun was unsteady in front of his nose, making in cross his eyes._

_"Hummm...I suppose I believe you...for now..." Jimmy said, grinning at the terrified man. "But if I find out you've lied to me...you don't know what kind of hell you'll be in for. Now...where is April Summers?"_

_"What do you want with that poor girl?" Midkiff asked, rubbing his neck where the crazed priest had been gripping him._

_"In order for the process to begin the mother of the reborn must die." The man said simply._

_"You can't!" The doctor began to panic, how could this happen? He was in the worst position of his career._

_"I can, unless you want your dirty laundry aired out, my good doctor." At that moment a wide grin spread across Jimmy Stone's face. "Now where is she?"_

_Harold MIdkiff knew he was going to hell._


End file.
